With sea erosion and its onslaught assuming alarming proportions in several coastal patches of the State, experts and activists have sought for the proper rehabilitation and livelihood support for the climate-displaced people of Satabhaya clusters of villages in Kendrapara district.

As many as 571 families from Satabhaya gram panchayat have already been rehabilitated in 2018 at the State’s first resettlement project for the sea-erosion-hit people at Bagapatia village. However 148 families who bore the brunt of sea’s fury are yet to be rehabilitated.

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The civil society groups besides the government agencies need to initiate permanent measures to ensure the proper rehabilitation, skill building, and livelihood of the oustees. Building a pucca house or providing homestead land to the displaced people is no solution to the problem. The need of the hour is to provide permanent income sources to the affected people, who clamor for support and assistance to eke out a dignified living, speakers said at a workshop organized by the Regional Centre for Development Cooperation (RCDC) here on Wednesday.

With negligible avenues of livelihood available to them, the disturbing trend of interstate migration has reared its ugly head in the resettlement colony, housing the displaced people.

With hunger staring at them, there is a large exodus of human resources from the colony. As a matter of fact, around 90% of young women have migrated to Kerala in the past two years to toil at textile units in the southern State. The exodus is attributed to the insensitive approach of the government agencies, who have done precious little to provide alternate income sources to them, they rued.

Incidentally, the state government has faced innumerable anti-displacement movements in various districts. The one by the villagers of Satabhaya was however on the contrary for displacement. People here had wanted to be displaced and rehabilitated as the sea made steady advances towards their villages.

Among others who took part in the workshop are retired civil servant Arabindo Behera, Susmita Behera, Chief General Manager, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), Prasanna Behera, Sub Collector Kendrapara Abha Mishra, UNDP representative, officials of Kendrapara district administration, Satabhaya Sarpanch and ED RCDC Kailash Chandra Dash and office bearers.